Published on: 05th January 2026
Authored by: Kunwar Langer
The Law School, University of Jammu
ABSTRACT
This legal article draws the attention of the readers about the recent developments relating to the usage of social media sites, putting a main focus on the media laws of the nation with the recent case revolving around filthy remarks delivered by well- known social media personalities including Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina and Apoorva Mukhija
INTRODUCTION
During the recent times in India, everyone saw a chaos around the idea of implementation of restrictions on the usage of social media. Content creators, social media influencers and people all around, be it micro or major influencers, were against the proposed idea to limit the right to free speech and expression while using social media sites like YouTube, Instagram, ETC. While politicians and bureaucrats were in favour of implementing these restrictions. The enthusiasm shown by these political luminaries and bureaucrats to implement such harsh restrictions was suspicious. The question is, “Are there any personal benefits for these politicians that are vested in these restrictions?” That we will never know.
But doing a basic amount of research related to these proposed suggestions, we surely can ask one question “is there actually a need to control the content that is being posted on social media sites or if this restrictive policy violates the fundamental right of free speech and expression provided to the nationals and non- nationals of India. This article mainly provides an in- depth legal analysis of the same.
HISTORICAL PRETEXT – BIRTH OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a form of mass media communications on the Internet through which users share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content, such as videos, images, etc. Humans from the very beginning have been referred to as “social animals” but the inception of social media age is relatively a newer concept. The earliest forms of social media applications appeared almost as soon as the world saw a technological revolution around the end of 20th century. E-mail and chat programs debuted around the early 1970s, but persistent communications did not surface until the creation of the discussion group network USENET in 1979.
With the passage of time and further development in technological aspects, social media sites saw a great boom in the early 21st century with the emergence of Social network sites such as MySpace that allowed family members, friends, and acquaintances to connect online. MySpace was eventually supplanted by Facebook which was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, all of whom were students at Harvard University, became one of the world’s most popular social media sites with billions of users worldwide. Other forms of social media emerged for the sharing of specific types of content. For example, YouTube allows users to share videos, and TikTok is specifically designed for the sharing of short videos[1].
At present, YouTube is the most popular social media site where people all around the world stream videos and graphic- based content with a total of over 2.49 billion monthly active users all around the world. One of the most interesting facts about the global usage of YouTube is that India has the largest YouTube audience in the world. This means that Indians amount to the most users of YouTube all around the world! Taking a look at the official reports, At least 462 million people living in India are YouTube users – that’s around 38.4% of the adult reach rate[2].
THE “INDIA’S GOT LATENT CONTROVERSY” AND THE DEBATE REGARDING THE GOVERNMENTAL INTERVENTION IN SOCIAL SPACE
India’s Got Latent was an Indian parody talent show which was hosted by Mr. Samay Raina, one of India’s most talented and witty Stand- up Comedian, on his YouTube channel. The show, apparently, was inspired by an international show franchise which was known as Kill Tony. It featured a wide variety of acts including singing, dancing, magic, and comedy[3]. India’s Got Latent was, in layman’s wording, a comic take on the show ‘India’s Got Talent’, which majorly focused on providing a stage for participants to showcase their talents in front of a judges panel which consisted of other social media personalities.
The controversy erupted when a clip from the show featuring Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina, Apoorva Mukhija and other social media stars, went viral. The clip generated a great hue and cry around filthy and below the belt remarks passed by the panel members, particularly by Ranveer Allahbadia. Ranveer in the clip can be seen interacting with a participant and making illicit jokes in bad taste. Subsequent FIRs were lodged against everyone involved in the controversial panel, including Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina and Apoorva Mukhija[4].
People all around India were completely against the remarks made by Ranveer Allahbadia with no chance of apologies given to him or to anyone involved in the matter. This controversy gave rise to a heated debate around the extent of the right of free speech and expression and the imposition of governmental restrictions on the social media usage in India.
LEGAL ASPECT
While regulating social media through a variety of laws and regulations, the Indian constitution and legislative frameworks guarantee that free speech and expression are not absolute in nature.
Article 19(1) (a) of the Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. However, under Article 19(2), the government may impose some reasonable restrictions in order to safeguard the interests of :
- The sovereignty and integrity of India,
- The security of the State,
- Friendly relations with Foreign States,
- Public order,
- Decency or morality or,
- In relation to contempt of court,
- Defamation or incitement to an offence.[5]
The Information Technology (IT) Act of 2000 is the main law that governs digital content in India. The Act’s Section 69A grants the government the power to block the public from accessing online content that jeopardizes national sovereignty, public safety, or defence.
Additionally, as long as they comply with requests from authorities to remove content, social media intermediaries is guaranteed safe harbor protection under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000, which shields them from liability for user-generated content. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Regulations, 2021, impose strict regulations on digital platforms. These regulations mandate that companies remove unlawful content within 36 hours of being informed and assign compliance officers to handle complaints. These rules have generated a lot of debate; some argue that they improve accountability, while others see them as tools for possible censorship.
Section 66A of the IT Act, criminalizes sending offensive messages, images, or videos using a computer or other communication device. The law was intended to protect women from cybercrimes, but it was criticized for infringing on freedom of speech and expression. It was declared as unconstitutional because it was ambiguous and unduly restrictive of free speech[6].
Taking into consideration the debate revolving around the India’s Got Latent storm and the apparent governmental intervention to make stricter laws to monitor and scrutinize the content that is being produced and posted on the social media applications, a clear picture of potential “New Censorship Laws” can be seen overshadowing the whole debate. Even though the government has the authority to implement such laws relating to the content that is being posted on the various social media applications, but this implementation shall not be in such a taste that it hinders with the rights of the citizens to express their art and artistry. Comedy as a form of art is to be taken in a light hearted manner and not in a serious way. There indeed is a need to regulate the posting of filthy content on social media applications, which is the collaborative duty of both the government as well as the person posting the content. But deliberate actions of the government to use the opportunity to implement or even suggest censorship regulations diverts the whole debate and makes it sound suspicious.
“I will be raising the issue regarding the show called India’s Got Latent as a member in the standing committee of IT& Communication for the kind of vulgar, blasphemous content that is passed off as comedy. We need to set boundaries since these platforms influence young minds and they are passing off absolute rubbish as content. The language used by Ranveer Allahabadia which was also actively encouraged by others on that ‘comedy panel’ is unacceptable[7],” Ms Chaturvedi had posted on X.
CONCLUSION
We are well aware about the fact that there are several laws that directly or indirectly tries to maintain a sense of decency and morality among the Indian citizens. Also the right to free speech and expression provided under article 19 (1) (a) is also not absolute and is backed by several restrictions which are generally reasonable in nature. But still, despite these legal safeguards, moral outrage among the members of the society remains a powerful force in shaping public perception. Many argue that while comedians have the right to push boundaries, they also have a responsibility to respect cultural sensitivities, which selectively is true but in the long run affects comedy as a form of performing art. Concurrently, it is also the responsibility of the citizens and the audience to perceive comedy as a light- hearted art form, rather overanalyzing its cultural and social contexts.
Let us understand this with an example: let us suppose that ‘A’ is a comedian who goes to perform his set in front of an audience. Now the audience can comprise of various individuals who have completely different opinions as compared to the comedian. Now if the total number of attendants is one hundred, it is not possible for the comedian to make jokes which caters all of these hundred people. We have to understand the fact that not everyone has the same taste and preferences. Some might like light hearted comedy while some enjoy dark humour.
The criticism of Allahbadia and Raina is entirely justified since it captures the growing belief that some jokes, even those that are legal, are offensive and contributes to the normalization of offensive speech, but only when handled in accordance with the law because the treatment and the portrayal of these mere content creators similar to that of “rapists” and “terrorists” in the media trial is also not at all justified!
[1] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Social Media | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts” (Encyclopedia Britannica, April 17, 2025) https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-media
[2] Dean B, “YouTube Stats: How Many People Use YouTube?” (Backlinko, April 14, 2025) https://backlinko.com/youtube-users
[3] Wikipedia contributors, “India’s Got Latent” (Wikipedia, April 17, 2025) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India’s_Got_Latent
[4] Desk TE and India TO, “Ranveer Allahbadia Says He ‘lost Health, Money, Opportunity, Repute, Peace’ after India’s Got Latent Controversy: ‘Mobs Love Seeing People Fall’” The Times of India (April 18, 2025) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/ranveer-allahbadia-says-he-lost-health-money-opportunity-repute-peace-after-indias-got-latent-controversy-mobs-love-seeing-people-fall/articleshow/120390930.cms
[5] Admin, “Freedom of Speech – Article 19(1)(a)” (BYJUS, January 31, 2024) https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/freedom-of-speech/
[6] Srivastava A, “Social Media Laws and Free Speech in India: A Legal Analysis » Lawful Legal” (Lawful Legal, February 20, 2025) https://lawfullegal.in/social-media-laws-and-free-speech-in-india-a-legal-analysis/#:~:text=The%20IT%20Act%2C%202000%20governs,comply%20with%20government%20takedown%20requests.
[7] Venugopal V, “House Panel to Push for Stricter Content Laws amid YouTuber Row: Sources” (www.ndtv.com, February 13, 2025) https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ranveer-allahbadia-standing-committee-on-it-indias-got-latent-samay-raina-house-panel-to-push-for-stricter-content-laws-amid-youtuber-row-sources-7701534
